Nvidia rebrands Grid game streaming, adds monthly subscription

Administrator

08:34, October 1, 2015

Nvidia's Grid game streaming service has been rebranded as GeForce Now (yes, really). The service will offer up to 1080p, 60 FPS streaming of around 50 games to Nvidia's Shield line of Android devices, and will be priced at £7.49 per month in the UK, $7.99 in the US, €9.99 in Europe, and ¥950 in Japan.

That's substantially cheaper than its nearest rival, Sony's PlayStation Now service, which charges $19.99 per month for a subscription in the US. UK beta users don't currently have a monthly subscription option, but can rent a PlayStation 3 PSN game for £2.99 for two days or £7.99 for 30 days, or a retail PS3 game for £4.99 for two days or £9.99 for 30 days.

Earlier this year, Nvidia added new data centres to the US, Europe, and Asia in order to accommodate 1080p streaming. Those not blessed with 30Mbps connections will be dropped down from 1080p to 720p (which requires around 9Mbps), and then down to 540p from there.

Nvidia will also be offering individual games to purchase for use on GeForce Now. Some of those games will come bundled with a Steam code for local download to a gaming PC. At launch, the selection of purchasable games includes Metro: Last Light Redux, Mad Max, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

In addition, Nvidia is bringing its Shield Android TV, which launched earlier this year in the US, over to the UK. The device will come bundled with a Shield controller for £149.99. A separate media remote will also be available for £39.99.

Those interested in giving GeForce Now a whirl without spending any cash can sign up for a free three-month trial. Just remember to cancel it if you're not happy, before your three months are up—we've all been burned by that one before.